anydmusic

SandlinJohn

smallstonefan
...
 
My prediction is they kill the company and it's obligations/baggage, then sell the product in an asset sale to someone else.
 
I run a decent-sized software company - I always had this little fantasy of running Cakewalk once I sold mine; I thought that would be fun! :)
 
My best to the devs...

I think it unlikely anyone will be willing to pick up Sonar to re-release it. Pro-Tools has the professional market sewn up and I expect a package as large as Sonar will be nearly impossible to put into a market that is already overcrowded.

That makes me sad. I have nearly three decades of experience with the product line and company.

The big question for any new owner is where would Sonar Phoenix sit in the market.
 
You cannot ignore the fact that in the last month Sonar will have slipped a few places in the rankings and attracting back those of us who have started working with one of the alternatives will be hard especially given that it will probably be a few more months before they have something to offer. 

It would sit exactly where it was and likely lower. The same issues that crippled Sonar would still exist

That's very bad.
I can not update.
I have Sonar for years and I feel cheated.

I am curious if another investor does take over but starts from scratch, maybe keeping a few similarities that we are familiar with, give it a new name, etc., would any of you stay?  I agree with those of you that said any new owner would not honor lifetime updates.  I don't think they have to, contractually.  When I first purchased the lifetime updates, I checked the Help screen where it shows you your license number, and it had a year like something to 2099 it was like 80 some years out into the future.  I laughed when I saw that.  Anyway, I think a new investor might possibly offer some sort of discount but I wouldn't expect one.  However, if a new version of what we know were to be released under a new company, I would say that at that point, I would have to evaluate it as any other DAW that I am looking into now.  All we can do is hope right?  I am still using Sonar, Mixcraft 8 is my backup.  I used it last week, and it's ok.  Sonar outshines it.

Marek Smok Rajss
That's very bad.
I can not update.
I have Sonar for years and I feel cheated.

You will be much better off using the money for one of the cross grade offers upgrading makes no sense now and there are a lot of people who have upgraded recently who with that they had not.

anydmusic

Marek Smok Rajss
That's very bad.
I can not update.
I have Sonar for years and I feel cheated.

You will be much better off using the money for one of the cross grade offers upgrading makes no sense now and there are a lot of people who have upgraded recently who with that they had not.

Have to agree with this.
MOTU DP9.5, Presonus SO3, Samplitude X3, Cubase 9.5, Tracktion Waveform, Mixcraft8
are having crossgrade sales at the moment. I took the Samplitude X3 deal just for the Soundforge and Spectral Layer deal. Still debating on one more.  Plus there is always Reaper for the discounted license of only $60.00 that has been on going for years :)

alekxv
I have been reading this forum for a considerable time and like some of you I was also surprised by the news. I was a 2.0 version user when very few of the computer media understood MIDI and sequencers (or what they were for) and gradually I went to Bars and Pipes (for me, the best MIDI-only sequencer that has ever existed.) Came back to Cakewalk when he released his version 6 of Sonar and I have stayed there until now.
It does not make sense to delve into the reasons for a decision that is clearly lapidary for both Cakewalk and Gibson. Lately, Gibson was known more for his involvement with Cakewalk than for anything else.
What we must do is accept that reality and ask Cakewalk and / or Gibson to at least have the decency and consideration (they owe it to us) to clarify several points that are listed below in order of importance:

• How we do to download all our products (either by Command Center or directly from the site) and activate them offline.
• How long will the servers be working online to perform the previous operation (taking into account that the demand will be huge and the time span must be broad enough for us to download all the software.
• How can we continue to use the plugins of other companies (Overloud, XLN, Melodyne, TruePianos, etc.) within Sonar.
• What will happen with the partial payments and under what conditions the refunds operate?
• Optionally, what is the future of Cakewalk, because for Gibson's I see it very clearly ...

And for us, users, only have to take one of two paths

• If the time you have invested in mastering the tool has been such that your productivity is second to none. If you have come to realize you need another 2 DAWs to do what you do with Sonar. If your workflow is very attached to Sonar and you know every trick and skill of the program and all or most of its keyboard shortcuts, then by all means you must build for yourself a Sonar-Hardware DAW. Have a computer (preferably desktop) with the latest hardware, install all Cakewalk packages (32 and 64 bits) that you bought (whether you think you need it or not) of the version you will use, update the drivers to the latest possible functional version, install all the plugins you work with most of the time and the additional utilities you use to complete your workstation and test the system. If it supports all the tests without a glimse of error, if you feel is running smoothly and the latency is good enough, it is time to disconnect it from the Internet and forget about the windows updates for life. Also, if you want, you can uninstall the antivurus completely.
  Think on this machine as if it were your venerable Moog or your Korg M1 or your Motif or your DX7 but on steroids. Of course, with time it will show its age but it will be a machine that will not give you any problems for many years and will be as reliable as a solid rock where you can realize your most ambitious projects.
  I speak from experience. I have a computer with XP service pack 3. Is it already old?, yes. Is part of the software accusing its age?, you bet. Is still working as it did 12 years ago, of course. Is reliable as a rock, without a doubt.
• If on the contrary, you are at the crossroads of deciding whether to change DAW or continue with Sonar, I suggest you change. Forget what Sonar was for you and use your time you will be mourning the Sonar's fate, learning a new program or programs and using the plugins with the hardware you have. I think the combination Ableton Live and Studio One 3 or Ableton Live and Samplitude X3 suite can be the best options when replacing Sonar.

It will undoubtedly be a difficult decision and I am sorry for all the developers who dedicated their lives and time to making this application one, if not the best, of its kind. The specialization that is required to make the software talk to the hardware through an operating system that is constantly evolving, is not easy task and yet I believe that the Cakewalk team managed to tame a beast as fickle as Windows is.
 
My 2 cents.

In terms of the future of Cakewalk, as it stands there is no future for Cakewalk.  Gibson has closed them down.  They are gone.
 
Someone here recently posted financial info, and it seems Cakewalk has been losing money for years.  Gibson is financially stressed and can't afford to keep a loss-making subsidiary open.  It's sad, but it's a harsh reality of business that a company can only lose money for so long before it's no longer viable.  With Gibson's own financial issues ongoing, they had no choice but to pull the plug on Cakewalk.
 
In terms of needing 2 DAWs to do what we've done with SONAR, frankly that's nonsense.  SONAR is a very capable DAW with lots of goodied bundled in, but pretty much every other DAW out there is equally capable.  Of course, there's always the barrier of needing to learn new software, but that just means an investment of time to get to grips with something else if you choose to go with something else.

Marek Smok Rajss
That's very bad.
I can not update.
I have Sonar for years and I feel cheated.

Unless you JUST recently purchased sonar and/or it is currently not working ,you were not cheated.  you simply got what you paid for.  My sonar works fine and I have a frankensteined version that is part paid, part beta . If my messy pile of unfinished code works, then most should work fine for years to come. 

dubdisciple

Marek Smok Rajss
That's very bad.
I can not update.
I have Sonar for years and I feel cheated.

Unless you JUST recently purchased sonar and/or it is currently not working ,you were not cheated.  you simply got what you paid for.  My sonar works fine and I have a frankensteined version that is part paid, part beta . If my messy pile of unfinished code works, then most should work fine for years to come. 

I beg to differ.  I purchased a lifetime upgrade service.  I'm still alive.

bnwitt

dubdisciple

Marek Smok Rajss
That's very bad.
I can not update.
I have Sonar for years and I feel cheated.

Unless you JUST recently purchased sonar and/or it is currently not working ,you were not cheated.  you simply got what you paid for.  My sonar works fine and I have a frankensteined version that is part paid, part beta . If my messy pile of unfinished code works, then most should work fine for years to come. 

I beg to differ.  I purchased a lifetime upgrade service.  I'm still alive.

You may be.  Cakewalk is not.

bnwitt

dubdisciple

Marek Smok Rajss
That's very bad.
I can not update.
I have Sonar for years and I feel cheated.

Unless you JUST recently purchased sonar and/or it is currently not working ,you were not cheated.  you simply got what you paid for.  My sonar works fine and I have a frankensteined version that is part paid, part beta . If my messy pile of unfinished code works, then most should work fine for years to come. 

I beg to differ.  I purchased a lifetime upgrade service.  I'm still alive.

and my unbreakable comb broke.  my one size fit all doesn't fit.  If you somehow believed a company could guarantee itself perpetual existence, i have magic beans to sell you.  One doesn't need to read the fine print to deduce that obviously becomes null and void if the company goes under.  Hell, technically that offer you jumped on didn't even guarantee a rate or schedule of updates.